Education Acquisitions in California

NIIT Learning Systems Limited (NIIT MTS), through its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary NIIT (USA), Inc., has acquired 100% of SweetRush, Inc. for up to $26 million including performance-based earnouts. The acquisition adds SweetRush's AI-enabled custom learning experience design, certification development and talent solutions to NIIT's managed learning services platform and expands near‑shore delivery capability in the Americas.

Cotulla Education, the parent of career-focused schools including the Aviation Institute of Maintenance, has acquired American Lineman College, a Bakersfield-based electrical line-worker training provider. The acquisition adds line-worker and utility training to Cotulla's portfolio to help address skilled-labor shortages and strengthen employer-driven workforce pipelines.

IXL Learning has acquired Evan-Moor Educational Publishers, a Monterey-based creator of PreK–8 workbooks and instructional resources. The acquisition expands IXL's content offerings and strengthens its reach into print and digital K–8 curriculum resources and subscription services for teachers and families.

Ignite Reading, a San Francisco-based virtual tutoring and literacy company, has acquired Esteam, an AI-driven education startup that uses speech recognition to assess reading and map student skills. The deal brings Esteam's automatic speech recognition and assessment capabilities into Ignite Reading's high-dosage 1:1 tutoring platform to enable more personalized, real-time instruction; financial terms were not disclosed.

Atlanta-based private equity firm Eagle Merchant Partners has made a control / strategic growth investment in Sacramento-based Guidewell Education, with Graycliff Partners providing follow-on unitranche debt and minority equity to support the transaction. As part of the partnership, Guidewell—an education platform serving ~22,000 students annually—acquired Reach Cambridge, a UK-based summer academic and cultural program operator, to expand its international footprint.

Ethos Software portfolio company Peterson's LLC has acquired Animal Behavior College (ABC), a leading vocational school for pet care professionals headquartered in Valencia, California. ABC will become a division of Peterson's, expanding the platform's vocational and certification offerings in the pet care market.

Climb Credit, a student payment platform, has acquired Career Karma, an education discovery platform that guides prospective students toward job training programs. The deal brings together Climb’s financing and enrollment expertise with Career Karma’s large discovery and advising audience to improve program matching, streamline enrollment, and expand Career Karma’s reach into new high-demand industries.

Golden Peak Media has acquired Creativebug, a subscription-based online learning platform for arts and crafts that was previously owned by Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores. The acquisition combines Golden Peak's media and educational assets with Creativebug's 1,000+ on-demand classes and library licensing relationships to expand content, audiences, and community engagement.

Panorama Education, a Boston-based K–12 education technology company, has acquired Class Companion, a San Francisco-based AI tutoring and feedback platform. The acquisition expands Panorama's AI-powered product suite to provide real-time differentiated instruction and deeper student insights for educators and school districts.

Caltius Structured Capital (Caltius Capital Management) closed a debt and equity investment in Laguna Hills-based Strategic Kids, a provider of after-school enrichment programs and school staffing services. The financing will support the company's growth and geographic expansion into new schools and districts; Caltius principals Graham Brockington and Andy Morrow will join Strategic Kids' leadership team while co-founder Adam Brody remains President.

Graycliff Partners LP provided a unitranche credit facility and a minority equity investment in Guidewell Education to support the company's growth across the educational ecosystem. Guidewell, headquartered in Sacramento, California, offers college admissions counseling, test preparation, and academic tutoring through multiple brands and serves over 20,000 students annually.

Unleashed Brands has acquired Water Wings Swim School to expand its youth enrichment platform into the swim category. Water Wings will operate under the Unleashed Brands platform with founder Avi Shafshak remaining as Brand President as the company launches a national franchise program to scale the swim business across the U.S.

Busy Bees North America acquired Learn and Play Montessori School, adding 15 Montessori early education centers in the San Francisco Bay Area and marking Busy Bees' entry into California. The acquisition increases Busy Bees' North American footprint to 225 centers, adds nearly 300 employees and more than 1,700 families, and was facilitated by HINGE Early Education Advisors; founders Harpreet and Kiran Grewal sold the business.

PSG, a growth equity firm, made a strategic growth investment in CourseKey, a student success platform focused on vocational education. The investment positions CourseKey alongside PSG portfolio companies Verity IQ and Campus Ivy to create an integrated, end-to-end technology suite for career-focused and vocational education providers.

Nationwide Studios Inc. has acquired Pixami, Inc., a provider of online yearbook software serving the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Pixami will operate as a separate business unit within the Nationwide family to expand software capabilities, integrate personalized photo products across Nationwide’s portfolio, and support international growth with added development, marketing and sales resources.

Red Iron Group, a Menlo Park-based private investment firm, has made a strategic growth investment in Charter Impact to provide long-term capital and operational support. The investment will help Charter Impact accelerate growth, broaden its technology-enabled services, and pursue potential strategic acquisitions while management (Co-CEOs Adam Kaeli and David Lueck) remain owners.

Coastline Academy, the nation's largest driving school, has acquired Cantor's Driving School California from owner Frank Cantor. The acquisition expands Coastline's presence in Southern California and aims to preserve Cantor's local legacy while modernizing and scaling driver education services through Coastline's tech-enabled platform.

KEV Group, backed by Serent Capital, has acquired California-based Gray Step Software, a provider of web-based accounting and fundraising solutions for K-12 student bodies, boosters, and PTAs. The add-on strengthens KEV's leadership in school activity fund management software across North America and expands its product portfolio and customer reach.

OneGoal announced the acquisition of DecidED, a free online college cost comparison tool developed by the nonprofit Moneythink. The tool will be integrated into OneGoal’s postsecondary advising offerings to help students, families and advisors compare college costs, financial aid and fit factors to improve affordability and reduce stopouts.

Heggerty, a portfolio company of L Squared Capital Partners, has acquired Literably, a digital literacy assessment platform used by hundreds of schools. The acquisition will integrate Literably's speech-AI driven assessments into Heggerty's myHeggerty ecosystem to expand literacy assessment capabilities and better support K-12 educators.

Echo360 has acquired Inkling, a San Francisco–based digital training and mobile-first content management company, combining Inkling’s corporate learning technologies with Echo360’s educational SaaS platform. The deal, supported by Centre Lane Partners, aims to expand Echo360’s capabilities and deliver integrated learning solutions for higher education and frontline enterprise workforces worldwide.

Embrace Software Inc. has acquired XAP Corporation, a longtime provider of career and college planning software (Choices360) used by K–12 districts and state education agencies. The deal expands Embrace's education-technology portfolio and will keep XAP's leadership in place while leveraging Embrace's capital and operational resources to accelerate growth.

Education services firm EAB has agreed to acquire Forage, a provider of virtual job simulations, to add the product to its Seramount talent division. The acquisition will let EAB connect employers and millions of students through Forage’s on-demand simulations, expanding EAB’s early-career talent and employer recruiting capabilities.

Amplify, a Brooklyn-based K–12 curriculum and assessment publisher, has acquired Math ANEX, a San Diego–based math assessment provider known for its asset-based analysis of student mathematical thinking. Math ANEX’s DEMI assessment will be integrated into Amplify’s mCLASS Math product to expand assessment analytics and provide deeper instructional insights for districts and teachers.

IXL Learning has acquired Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com to expand its portfolio of language and literacy products, strengthening its position in education technology. The acquisition brings widely used online reference platforms (serving roughly 40 million monthly users) into IXL's family of brands, including Rosetta Stone and Vocabulary.com.

Wonderschool, a San Francisco-based child care platform, has acquired EarlyDay, a VC-backed early childhood career marketplace that uses AI matching to connect educators with employers. The acquisition expands Wonderschool's staffing and hiring capabilities to help child care centers address nationwide staffing shortages and reduce administrative burden.

Ellucian has acquired EduNav, an academic planning and student success SaaS platform, to expand its higher-education product portfolio. The acquisition integrates EduNav's degree planning, transfer mapping and capacity-planning tools into Ellucian's suite to help institutions improve student outcomes and streamline registration and advising workflows.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) has acquired edtech company Writable, integrating its research-backed writing assessment and practice tools into HMH’s K–12 offerings and establishing HMH Labs, a new incubator focused on generative AI and emerging technologies. Writable CEO and co-founder Andrew Goldman will lead HMH Labs as Executive Vice President to continue development of Writable and new AI-driven education solutions.

Podium Education has acquired Untapped, an early-career talent platform, to integrate Untapped's employer network with Podium's university partnerships and expand pathways from college to career. The deal will connect over 1 million undergraduates across Podium's 60+ partner universities with Untapped's employer customers and bring Untapped's co-founders into Podium's executive team; terms were not disclosed.

Aztec Software, a NexPhase-backed educational software company, has acquired Financial Fitness Group (FFG) and will combine FFG with its iGrad (Enrich) financial literacy brand. The deal expands iGrad's library with hundreds of FINRA‑reviewed financial content pieces and illustrations, strengthening Aztec's financial wellness and advisor-facing offerings.

Traliant, a PSG-backed provider of online compliance training, has acquired Kantola Training Solutions, an eLearning leader focused on harassment prevention and DEI training trusted by over 15,000 organizations. The acquisition expands Traliant's portfolio of harassment prevention and DEI courses and is an add-on to the PSG-supported Traliant platform to accelerate capability and market growth.

Serent-backed ParentSquare has acquired Remind and will combine the two K‑12 communication platforms under the ParentSquare name to expand school‑home engagement tools. The deal, which closed in November, will keep Remind’s products and free teacher messaging while discontinuing Remind Tutoring; financial terms were not disclosed.

Woolpert has acquired Cooperative Strategies, a national education facility and program planning firm that provides K‑12 facility management, enrollment and demographic analysis, capital planning and program planning services. The acquisition adds national education facility expertise and the My Facility Informer (MFI) data platform to Woolpert's architecture, engineering, geospatial and consulting capabilities to expand K‑12 offerings and analytics.

Sallie Mae (SLM) has acquired several key assets of scholarship search app Scholly, including its scholarship search app, scholarship administration technology, Scholly Offers platform, certain technology, intellectual property, and staff. Sallie Mae will make Scholly free for students and families and intends to integrate the technology to expand its education solutions and improve access to scholarships; terms were not disclosed.

Newsela has acquired Formative to combine its K-12 instructional content library with Formative’s real-time assessment and data capabilities, creating a more comprehensive instructional solution for teachers and administrators. The deal brings together Newsela’s 15,000+ content library and Formative’s assessment platform (used by over four million students) effective immediately to enable faster feedback, targeted intervention, and improved student outcomes.

Axcel Learning, the professional education platform backed by Alpine Investors, has acquired ExitCertified, an instructor-led and self-paced IT training provider. The deal is an add-on to Axcel's growing portfolio of IT training businesses (which already includes Web Age Solutions and Accelebrate) and will see ExitCertified continue to operate under its brand while leveraging shared resources across the platform.

Point Quest, a provider of special education and behavioral health services, has acquired EdLogical Group Corp, a Long Beach–based provider of special education and child development services to school districts in Southern California. The acquisition expands Point Quest's presence in Southern California and integrates EdLogical's team into Point Quest's broader K-12 services offering; EdLogical co-founders Hector and Dianne Valentin will remain with the company.

Times Higher Education (THE) has acquired Poets&Quants, the leading publication covering business education, to accelerate THE's growth in the business education market and broaden its content, events, and data offerings. The acquisition will allow Poets&Quants to leverage THE’s global data, consultancy, and events capabilities to expand reach and product offerings for readers and institutional clients.

Savvas Learning Company has acquired Whooo's Reading, an AI-driven edtech platform that automatically assesses student writing to measure reading comprehension. The acquisition brings Whooo's machine-learning scoring technology into Savvas’s K‑12 curriculum and assessment portfolio to provide teachers faster, personalized feedback and actionable student insights.

Emler Swim School has acquired King's Swim Academy, a family-owned swim school with locations in San Carlos and San Mateo, California. The acquisition expands Emler's footprint into California and increases its network to 44 facilities across multiple U.S. states; King's Swim Academy will continue operating under its name with existing staff and enrollment plans.

3STEP Sports, the U.S. youth sports club and event operator, has acquired North Bay Basketball Academy (NBBA), a Northern California youth basketball club founded in 2010 by coach Rick Winter. The acquisition provides 3STEP a foundation to expand its basketball footprint across California and the Pacific Northwest by integrating NBBA's teams, camps, clinics and community programs.

SchoolStatus has acquired School Innovations & Achievement (SI&A), a K-12 attendance management software and services provider, including its operations, technology, 73 employees, and clients across more than 400 districts in nine states. The acquisition will integrate SI&A's Attendance Initiative and Attention2Attendance capabilities into SchoolStatus' data and family-communication platform to expand attendance interventions and multi-channel communications for districts; financial terms were not disclosed.

NexPhase Capital-backed Aztec Software has acquired iGrad, a San Diego-based web-based financial literacy and financial wellness platform. iGrad will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary led by its current CEO and expand Aztec’s suite of adult-education and workforce-training solutions by adding AI-powered financial wellness, serving colleges, employers and financial institutions. The deal is an add-on acquisition to bolster Aztec’s product capabilities in financial wellness and loan-management education.

Edcetera, an Eden Capital-backed provider of continuing education and licensing programs, has acquired PrepFE, an online exam-prep platform for the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. The deal expands Edcetera's engineering education offerings and positions the company to invest in product innovation and new licensure-focused programming.

Scholastic Corporation acquired Learning Ovations, the creator of the A2i literacy assessment and instructional planning system, to integrate research-backed screening, progress monitoring and professional learning into Scholastic’s literacy platform. The acquisition adds A2i’s ESSA Tier 1–rated technology and team to Scholastic Education Solutions; financial terms were not disclosed.

African Leadership International (ALI) has entered into an agreement to acquire Holberton Inc., a Silicon Valley-founded, project-based software engineering school. The acquisition will integrate Holberton's advanced technology program into ALI's ALX skills acceleration and placement network to scale training and connect African software engineering talent with global employers.

Genius Group Limited (GNS) has acquired the University of Antelope Valley (UAV), a Lancaster, California-based university, with the deal closing on July 7, 2022. Genius Group intends to grow the campus, integrate UAV into its global Genius Curriculum and build a "Metaversity" — a digital twin of UAV — to expand its accredited tertiary and vocational offerings globally.

GoGuardian has acquired TutorMe, an on-demand online tutoring platform, to integrate one-on-one tutoring into its K-12 education technology suite. The acquisition expands GoGuardian's capabilities for addressing unfinished learning and gives its customers access to TutorMe's 24/7 tutoring services used by more than 1.5 million students.

Blueprint Prep, a New Harbor Capital portfolio company, has acquired Sarah Michelle NP Reviews to expand its nurse practitioner test-preparation offerings. The deal adds NP Reviews’ online courses and training resources to Blueprint’s platform and content capabilities, broadening Blueprint’s medical and healthcare education portfolio.

CentralReach, a provider of autism and IDD care software, has acquired LiftEd, a cloud-based special education application that supports PreK-12 IEP teams and ABA-aligned curriculum and data collection. LiftEd's founders will join CentralReach to integrate the product into CentralReach's Autism and IDD Care Platform and expand the company's special education capabilities.